Bring the Roman Catholic Church Into The 21st Century

I felt it was time to discuss this subject, given the latest revelation of Irish priests sexually abusing at least 350 children since 1940.

I have thought about this subject whenever a like news item hits the wire and I've come to the conclusion that the Roman Catholic Church must enter the 21st Century in order to survive. First, I must say that I have a great deal of respect for this religion, as I do many other of the organized religions out there, but I believe that it has become somewhat of a dinosaur. Don't get me wrong, it has many admirable facets. However, I don't think the church is able to meet the needs of its shrinking congregation. Although I say shrinking, there have been reports that churches are reporting increased numbers during mass, but the church is also seeing a drop in priest population because of declining numbers following this "calling," as well as the existing ones aging. Lets look at a couple of teachings that I find particularly onerous, that I believe they should change their policy towards, in order to reverse this trend.

Priests are to remain celibate. Quite an unreasonable requirement. Given that priests are human and suffer from human failings, it is unreasonable to ask them to not have sex for the remainder of their lives. Especially considering the life expectancy of a person has more than doubled over the past millennium. The result? Well, if a priest does feel the need to obtain sexual gratification, they can't very well go to a bar to pick up a woman (or man, for that matter), or even hire a prostitute. Too public and the chances of being caught in the act, too great. Sleeping with each other? If one approaches the other, the other may 'out' them and they could potentially be excommunicated. So, where does that leave them? Sexually abusing the children that are left in their charge. An act very easy for them to get away with, since the children are less likely to tattle on them because of their position, and there would certainly be opportunities to be alone with them. Why is celibacy a requirement for priesthood? Does it have something to do with devotion to God? How is the sexual abuse of children serving that purpose? Maybe someone can edify me on what the Church/Vatican says why priests must remain celibate.

Birth control. Any kind of birth control is not allowed amongst Catholics. I'm not sure if this also includes the Rhythm method, but lets assume it does, because it is a conscious act of not getting pregnant. I can understand that this teaching would be of interest during the dark ages, when infant mortality rates were high and life expectancy was low. But now, with lower infant mortality rates, longer life expectancies and booming world population (6.5 billion at the most recent estimate. Seems like only yesterday we were at 5 billion), the need (and want, in the Western world) for high birth rates is unnecessary. Our expanding population is competing for fewer finite resources. This has to be slowed. A friend told me that when he was going through the marriage course at his church, the priest stated that the church denies its congregation the use of birth control....but these are the methods available anyway. Good for this priest! Despite the archaic edicts from the Vatican, the priest recognized the needs of his congregation and followed his conscience. If the Vatican saying no birth control is just so that they can boost Catholic numbers, then it's for the wrong reason. People can change religions, almost as easy as they can change gyms, so this isn't the way to keep the numbers up (in fact, sub-Sahara Africa, a traditional stomping ground for Catholic missionaries, is seeing Islam as the fastest growing religion).

I think you know where I'm going with this by now, but I'll state it anyway. The Vatican should allow priests to marry and allow birth control. I'll even go further and say that gay priests should be allowed to marry (I didn't want to get into the gay issue in this entry, but suffice to say, the Church should accept that it's out there and it's not an abomination). The result? Fewer instances of priests sexually abusing children, so the Church won't have to sell off their holdings to pay for reparations. Their congregation won't have to feel guilty about having 2 children, instead of 10. They will likely get a rising number of men entering the priesthood. But most of all, I think, the Church will see a growing number of people filling the pews. I'm sure there are a number of people out there that are Catholic in name only and don't attend mass. Loosening up some of the more archaic rules would turn this around. I thought with the election of the new Pope, this might be accomplished, but to no avail. He's old school.

I think it's high time that the Roman Catholic Church enter the 21st Century. It's unlikely it will happen under the leadership of the current Pope, but maybe the next one will be more progressive. Roman Catholicism is definitely due for a makeover. Maybe not an extreme one, but a makeover nonetheless.

Wings Over The World